By Sonny Jones
Larrell Murchison has spent quite a bit of time in Bladen County since the NFL season ended in January. He watched his alma mater, East Bladen High School, play in-county rival West Bladen in basketball, read Dr. Seuss books to young children and planned for his annual summer Community Fun Day.
Pretty soon, though, it will be time to return to work as a defensive lineman with the Los Angeles Rams.
The team has scheduled Organized Team Activities, or OTAs, beginning in mid-April. Technically optionally, Murchison will be there as the Rams prepare for the 2023 season.
Murchison played the final three games of the season with the Rams after being claimed off waivers by the organization following his mid-December release by the Tennessee Titans.
“It was different (being released by Tennessee),” Murchison said. “The (general manager) let me know the team had a lot of injuries and they had to make a move so they could get people for the (next) game. They wanted me to go back to the practice squad, but, honestly, I just knew God was going to move in and I was going to be somewhere else. I was blessed the Rams called me.”
He had the best game of his professional career in his debut with the Rams on Christmas Day in a 51-14 win against the Denver Broncos. Murchison had four tackles, including two sacks of quarterback Russell Wilson. Those were the first quarterback sacks of his three-year, 29-game NFL career.
“It was like a breath of fresh air,” Murchison said of the sacks. “I got the first one. Like I couldn’t breathe. I’ve been waiting to make the plays like that my whole career. When it happened I was just so happy and excited.”
Murchison, who is 25, played in 26 games for the Titans after being drafted by Tennessee in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL draft out of N.C. State.
He has no ill feelings about being released by Tennessee.
“I loved everything about it,” Murchison said of his time spent in Nashville. “I love the city, love the team, love all the coaches. Coach (Mike) Vrabel is a great person. I didn’t want to see it end, honestly.”
It did, however. Now, he’s trying to make a positive impression for a Rams team that went 5-12 last season a year after winning the Super Bowl.
“I had a great talk with my defensive coach when I left (at the end of the season),” Murchison said. “I was there only for four games. I’ve just got to get in there and continue to be around the team and make relationships.”
Murchison says the people in Los Angeles, like the folks in Bladen County, have treated him well. However, the traffic has been a major adjustment compared to the quiet roads in Elizabethtown.
“The traffic is absolutely horrendous,” he said. “LA is a beautiful city. It never rains. The weather is beautiful. The people are nice. (But) the traffic is so bad.”
Murchison hopes to be battling that traffic for several years, but the future is never certain in the NFL.
“I’m just taking it one day at a time and trying to put my best foot forward and seeing where it leads,” hes said. “I try to be my best.”
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